From Atlantic past to European destiny

Pinto, António Costa; Teixeira, Nuno Severiano

doi:10.4324/9780203397954_chapter_6

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After decades of relative isolation and socioeconomic backwardness under an authoritarian and colonialist regime, Portugal joined the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986 with the aim of getting support for its democratisation, economic development and international reorientation. Coming after the collapse of its centuries-old and highly mythified Empire, accession to the EEC presented itself as a sort of material and symbolic compensation that the liberal Europhile political elites driving the process were able to mobilise to legitimise changes within Portugal's society (Pinto and Teixeira 2004). Since then, the country has consolidated its democracy and cemented a Euro-Atlantic external orientation, balancing the European option as the new foreign policy priority, with the permanence of traditional transatlantic and post-colonial ties (Cravo 2012).…”

Section: The Europeanisation Of Portugal's Foreign Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Portugal’s strategic response to Brexit: enduring Europeanisation?

Raimundo

Ferreira‐Pereira

2022

Journal of Contemporary European Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Portugal is an often neglected country in the literature on small European states and one which is significantly exposed to the effects of Brexit. While being a core EU member, Portugal has a historic alliance with the United Kingdom, sharing with it an Atlanticist outlook. Drawing on the literature on small states, New Institutionalism and Europeanisation, this article deals with the effects of Brexit on Portugal's European strategy. More specifically, it examines the country's coping strategies vis-à-vis Brexit, the underlying drivers of these diplomatic responses, as well as their implications for the Europeanisation of Portuguese foreign policy. It is argued that Portugal has hedged its bets to balance a firm EU commitment, the protection of important ties with the UK and a strong NATO engagement. In so doing, the country has exhibited an enduring but limited foreign policy Europeanisation, even more cautiously pragmatic than in the past.

show abstract

Section: The Europeanisation Of Portugal's Foreign Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Portugal’s strategic response to Brexit: enduring Europeanisation?

Raimundo

Ferreira‐Pereira

2022

Journal of Contemporary European Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Over the past four decades or so, engagement in increased European cooperation has been a top priority for Portuguese foreign policy-makers. In 1986 Portugal joined the then European Community as a way to support its democratisation, socio-economic modernisation, and international reorientation (Pinto & Teixeira, 2004). Since then the country has consolidated its democracy and cemented a Euro-Atlantic external orientation, but fully-fledged EU participation has remained critical for supporting its economic development and international credibility (Ferreira-Pereira, 2014;Teixeira & Pinto, 2012).…”

Section: Portugal and Brexit: Challenges And Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hedging its bets? Portugal’s diplomatic strategies for a post-Brexit Europe

Raimundo

Ferreira‐Pereira

2021

European Politics and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union has deeply impacted politics in the continent. While affecting all European countries, the strategic challenges raised by Brexit have been particularly acute for smaller EU members due to their vulnerability and greater dependence on the Union. This article explores the diplomatic strategies smaller EU member states have pursued to meet the challenges stemming from Brexit. Drawing on the theoretical literature on small states it focuses on the case of Portugal, an under-researched country, which, as a core EU member sharing an historical alliance with Britain, is significantly exposed to the effects of Brexit. In an empirically grounded way, the analysis shows that Portugal has been hedging its bets to balance a steady EU commitment with the protection of relevant links with the UK. Like for other smaller EU countries, the new context of uncertainty led to the adoption of more proactive and sophisticated diplomatic strategies. The study provides evidence of the novel political dynamics in Europe triggered by Brexit and highlights the importance of international institutions, such as the EU, for small countries.These results contribute to the literature on contemporary Portuguese foreign policy and small European states' diplomacy.

show abstract

“…Their integration was considered complete and IARN had become extinct. Decolonization was irrevocable, and the whole national community was being reimagined so as to leave the fascist and colonialist past behind and move forward to a democratic “European destiny” (Pinto and Teixeira, 2004). In this context, a kind of “prescriptive forgetfulness,” as Paul Connerton (2008) called it, fell upon retornados .…”

Section: National Identity and The Illegitimate Memory Of The Returnmentioning

confidence: 99%

The return from Africa: Illegitimacy, concealment, and the non-memory of Portugal’s imperial collapse

Peralta

2019

Memory Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Decolonization resulted in more than half a million Portuguese settlers giving up their life in Africa. Most of them headed to Portugal, where they were called retornados (returnees). As living reminders of an illegitimate history, they do not fit into the dominant post-imperial historical narratives in Portugal and have until recently been invisible within the public arena. This article explores the memorial vacuum left by the collapse of the Portuguese empire and the return, while also addressing the present-day resurgence of retornados’ memories in Portuguese society. For these purposes, the article is based on the concept of non-memory, a concept which relates to gaps in the social memory that arise from the concealment of certain problematic historical events regarded as illegitimate or shameful for the myths and ideologies of national consciousness. Although it focuses on the Portuguese case, this article is placed in the wider context of the memorial place of the end of the empire in postcolonial Europe.

show abstract

From Atlantic past to European destiny

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Portugal’s strategic response to Brexit: enduring Europeanisation?

Portugal’s strategic response to Brexit: enduring Europeanisation?

Hedging its bets? Portugal’s diplomatic strategies for a post-Brexit Europe

The return from Africa: Illegitimacy, concealment, and the non-memory of Portugal’s imperial collapse

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About